1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer forensic systems and, more specifically, to a system for rapidly and efficiently acquiring email and other data from computers and providing a secure and productive environment for the investigation of that data.
2. The Prior Art
The forensic community has examined a variety of ways to share forensic data so that it can be reviewed by customers or in the case of this invention, investigators. One solution that is in common usage is the burning of data to CD's, DVD's, or hard drives and then shipping these to the investigators to review. Unfortunately, this does not allow for much collaboration. Also, it is hard to see what the investigator was seeing or follow along with his review.
Some other alternatives are traditional forensic software programs such as EnCase® from Guidance Software and the Forensic Tool Kit (FTK) from AccessData. Neither allows for automated extraction of email from email servers. Neither provides the ability for different personnel to review the data simultaneously via a graphical user interface web environment.
Clearwell's e-Discovery software provides some desired functionality. Again, though, that solution has no automated component for extracting and managing email from email servers. It is also hard to learn. The entire model around Clearwell is centered on electronic discovery. It is in particular oriented towards a company having a small number of cases that would support a civil defense. It is not directed towards those who have many (often small) cases being reviewed at the same time to support criminal prosecutions. Indeed, this orientation for the Clearwell technology makes it hard to use in the context of criminal investigations.
It would be advantageous to provide a system that addresses the needs of law enforcement agencies that would use such a system to prepare numerous smaller cases for prosecution and trial.